Day of the Dead honors those who have passed

Organizacion Tecomaxtlahuaquena from Oxaca, Mexico perform their Danza De Los Diablos (Dance with the Devils) during the Dia De Los Muertos celebration at the San Luis Rey Mission on Sunday.
— Eduardo Contreras

Organizacion Tecomaxtlahuaquena from Oxaca, Mexico perform their Danza De Los Diablos (Dance with the Devils) during the Dia De Los Muertos celebration at the San Luis Rey Mission on Sunday.
— Eduardo Contreras

Dedicating two days a year to death may seem a bit macabre, until the traditions involved in the annual Day of the Dead celebrations taking place this time of year are understood.

At one of the largest gatherings in San Diego County for the Mexican festival, an estimated 17,000 people Sunday took part in the 10th annual Dia de los Muertos 2010 at Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside. Two other free celebrations are set Monday and Tuesday in Old Town and in San Yisdro.

Family and friends typically gather Nov. 1 and 2, days that coincide with the Catholic holidays of All Saints’ and All Souls’ days, to pay respects to loved ones who have passed away.

“This is a happy day for us,” said Corina Rivera. “We’re not sad because they are dead. We are happy because they are with Christ. In Mexico, there are big parties.”

Rivera was among those who attended the event, replete with colorful altars decorated with photos, skulls made of sugar, candles, religious statues and bright orange marigolds. Many altars contain the favorite foods and drinks of the deceased, as well as other items they enjoyed in life.

The Day of the Dead can be traced back thousands of years, to the indigenous people of Mexico who honored their ancestors. In many regions, Nov. 1 is marked as the day to remember children who have died, and Nov. 2, adults. At cemeteries across the country, graves are cleaned and decorated, special foods made, and overnight vigils are held. In homes, smaller more private alters are set up.

With some 30 million people of Mexican ancestry estimated to be in the United States, Day of the Dead has firmly taken root here. Festivalgoers Sunday took in dozens of ways to experience the holiday. Children and adults walked around with faces painted as skeletons. Many watched dance groups such as Ballet Folklorico Aquetzalli of Lemon Grove. Hundreds of people took note of dozens of individually decorated altars, including nearly 40 created inside the trunks of meticulously restored lowrider cars.

Jose Navarro of Por Siempre Car Club in Encinitas built an altar to a family friend — Delphinus Mark, who died two years ago in a motorcycle accident — in the back of his 1967 Chevrolet Impala.

“My sister thought of the idea last year and they really liked it,” said Navarro, whose trunk altar included photos of Mark with his family, a bowl of fruit, flowers and pan de muerto (bread of the dead).

The celebration was not limited to those of Mexican descent. Cara Dealy and Alison Ciling, both 12 and seventh-graders at Van Avery Prepin Temecula, painted themselves as skeletons to get in on the fun. Although they weren’t aware of it, the girls resembled a popular symbol of Day of the Dead, La Catrina. Inspired by turn-of-the-century artist Jose Guadalupe Posada, Catrina depicts a well-dressed lady of the time and were drawn to satirize the life of the upper class, who no matter how much money they had were as susceptible to death as the poor.

“Everyone wants to take pictures with us,” Cara Dealy said.

Since the festival was held on Halloween day, adults and children dressed as witches, bumble bees and Mexican wrestlers walked about the cemetery and rose garden of Mission San Luis Rey, a National Historic Landmark and the largest of the 21 California missions that stretch between the borders of Mexico and Oregon.